Weekly included AI usage funds eligible AI work first. Credits fund additional eligible AI work and may be included as a plan starter grant or acquired separately through a promotion, referral, support grant, or purchase. Most public recipe pages import without Credits, and manual planning, smart shopping lists, and cooking mode do not require Credits.
Settings shows weekly included AI usage as a percentage. It shows exact balances, sources, expiry dates, and charges only for Credits acquired separately from a plan. An eligible AI action is charged once when it successfully delivers its result. An action that fails before delivery or produces no change is not charged. Applying a delivered result costs nothing extra, but a delivered result is not refunded solely because you later discard or do not use it.
A weekly term normally begins with its first successful eligible use and ends seven days later. A new paid Plus subscription instead starts a fresh weekly term immediately. A Plus free trial that continues into its paid subscription starts no fresh term at the first charge; its next term opens on the first eligible use after the trial. That activation resets only weekly included AI usage; other Credit balances keep their existing expiry terms. Starter and purchased Credits never expire. Other Credits may have an expiry shown when they are granted.